


Life's Payback

by sarcastic_fina



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-08
Updated: 2008-09-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 06:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcastic_fina/pseuds/sarcastic_fina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Traffic was a bitch. The one day he needs everything to go smoothly, it just doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life's Payback

Traffic was a bitch. The one day he needs everything to go smoothly, it just doesn't. He woke up late, burned breakfast, was late for hockey practice, forgot his cell phone at home, nearly injured one of his fellow teammates and couldn't concentrate worth crap. Luckily, the guys gave him some slack. He was, after all, a week away from being a first-time dad. So when the Coach started waving him in frantically from the game they were playing, he was nervous. Only to realize that his day had just gotten that much more crazy. She was having the baby early; she was already at the hospital and tried repeatedly calling his cell only to realize he forgot it. Without changing, he hurriedly made his way to his car, forcing his skates off as he sat fidgeting and freaking out in the driver's seat. Dressed in full hockey gear, he took off toward the hospital at mach 5, running three red lights, two stop signs, and speeding right past a cop car that pulled him over. After explaining in a rush what was happening, he got a ticket and a warning to slow down and he nodded agreeably, but as soon as the cop was gone, he was speeding again and ignoring all road signs.

Luckily, he wasn't pulled over again, but he _did_ get caught in a mid-afternoon traffic jam. Groaning, he smacked the steering wheel angrily and shouted at the roof of his car. "If this is payback for everything I've ever done wrong, you could've picked a better day!" He ignored the other drivers that seemed to be staring at him funny and anxiously sat in his car, finding they were barely moving, but still making some, very little, progress. From what the coach said, she'd been in labor for hours already, screaming at the nurses that she wasn't giving birth until he got his "scrappy ass" over there to see the "magical birth of our first freakin' kid!" In case of emergency, he'd given her all of his teammates cell phone numbers just for this kind of occasion but they were posted on the fridge at home and he didn't realize until then that all of their phones would be put away in the locker room during practice. Which is probably why it took so long before she finally got through to the coach to let him know what was going on. Not that it comforted him in the least.

"COME ON!" he shouted at the vehicles in front of him, praying for some kind of miracle. "I'll stop calling Ed just to pick on him, I won't spread rumors at Lizzie's school that anyone who dates her will get a severe ass kicking, and I will agree with Casey for the rest of my life... Okay, the rest of the _week_ , if you just give me some kind of break!" he pleaded to whoever was listening.

Traffic started moving. He let out a shriek of joy until he realized he was stuck once more, this time he'd just managed to get around the corner. He could, however, see the hospital in the distance. He could imagine her now, red-faced and panting with anger as she sat in the hospital bed, shouting through clenched teeth, "This is _so_ like him! He probably stopped to chat up some girl or pick up something to eat before he breezes in here and asks if all the hard work is done yet! OH GOD! Why did I ever _marry_ him? This is all his fault! I'm never sleeping with him again! Did you _hear_ me, Emily? NEVER! AGAIN!"

Derek stared at the hospital and then looked down at the long line of cars jammed up and honking away. He'd be stuck here forever! Shaking his head, he threw open his door and hopped out of the car, fully aware that he wasn't wearing shoes, and started running down the street. It only took him five minutes at running as fast as he could before he reached the front doors of the hospital, out of breath and sweating. He was cold, his feet hurt, and he really felt like puking right about now, but he hurried to the front desk and gasped out, "Wife - baby - now!"

She pointed him in the right direction and when he got to the floor he was expected on, after running up a few flights of stairs rather than waiting for the elevator, all he had to do was follow the shouting voice of his wife that echoed throughout the halls.

" _Where_ is _he_? You called him almost an _hour_ ago! Oh god, if he misses this I am going to ring his neck so bad he'll-"

"Ma'am, you're scaring the other women on this floor," a nurse told her.

"I don't _CARE_!"

Stumbling, Derek managed to come to a halt in front of her door, panting loudly and bent over from exertion. "I'm here," he gasped, nodding. "I'm here!"

"Ugh! Thank god," Emily exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Der-ek!" Casey yelled from the bed, her hair plastered to her flushed face and neck. "What _took_ you so long?"

Making his way over, he rolled his eyes before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm here now... ‘S all that matters."

Sniffling, her eyes welled with tears. "I wasn't sure you'd make it!" she sobbed.

Sighing, he shifted back and forth, after all these years, he still couldn't take tears very well. Wrapping his arms around her awkwardly, he let her cry on his shoulder. She mumbled incoherently through her tears, clutching at his jersey and sniffling. Not sure what to say, he just kept repeating, "I'm here, I made it, don't worry."

When she was finally done crying, she sat back in her bed and furrowed her brows at him. "You didn't change," she murmured.

He shrugged. "I was in a hurry."

"You're not wearing shoes," Emily commented.

"Oh my Goooood..." Casey teared up again and Derek sighed. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
